Tuesday, November 27, 2012

WHAT IT MEANS: ESPN colleague Buster Olney reports thatAndy Pettitte is close to formally announcing he is coming back and a new deal is nearly completed.

Barring any trades, the Yankees now know what their rotation will look like in 2013. Pettitte will fit in nicely right in the middle of CC Sabathia and Hiroki Kuroda on the front end and Phil Hughes and whomever wins the fifth spot on the back end. Ivan Nova and David Phelpsare expected to battle in the spring for that spot.

Yay!

The big question with Pettitte is going to be how many innings he can pitch in 2013. While last year's injury was somewhat fluky, he's now thrown a grand total of 204 innings over the last three years. But he should be pretty good when he's able to go, and I'd imagine barring another unlucky injury 175 innings or so is realistic and should be worth somewhere from 2-3 wins.

Add Mo and the Yankees will probably project as the favorites in the AL East, although Tampa Bay is neck and neck with them and hasn't made any moves yet and Toronto's probably not far behind. Right now I have the Rays around 87 wins and the Yankees and Toronto at around 85 (pre-Pettitte), although it's way too early for that to be of much use.

Yankees have become the FA Ichiro 26, that (39) has reached an agreement in nearly one-year contract with outfielder ya army became evident in the story of the relationship team. Annual salary plus volume observed (approximately 400 million yen) and $ 5 million base line.Decreased significantly from 18 million U.S. dollars (about 40 million yen 1.4 billion) this season but surely, you can not replace the value in terms of moneythe Yankees found, the remaining decision. As early as it is expected to be announced later this week.

Active in the new world, and has been an increasing interest in the market now off FA outfielder Ichiro "the Yankees "Love was deep. According to officials, presenting condition seen about $ 5 million a year (approximately 400 million yen), plus the volume. Annual salary was $ 18 million this season (about 40 million yen 1.4 billion).

I was talking with a representative of Mr. Atanashio "I get interested in a lot of teams." Next season at the age of 39 is welcome, given the track record, it is no wonder, including a multi-year, as well as the other teams were from the more favorable offer.

There was a charm reminiscent of conditions to accept cheap and want to remain. He was enrolled in the mouth feel to the team as "here are those that come to the United States, have been ideal," even for a short time only and the weak countries March. In the Mariners was a 20% batting average up to 6 minutes rin 1 July this year, after the transfer is 30% rin 2 2 minutes. Also active in the post-season, the difference in motivation was clear before and after transfer.

Although it could leave the results to the end of the season, not necessarily in a position that is guaranteed regular next season. Leftist non-professional, as was entrusted the defense of the mid-level players are thick layer Yankeesin, the meaning of which is participating for the first time next spring camp is large. Just around the same time, there is a WBC. I was led to two consecutive declines as the center of the Japanese national team player, I received an offer compete again. World Series of earnest desire to be "the world" one another to win (WS), ready for thorough in the camp.

I think this means Ichiro has been signed for one year and $5M but I'm really not sure.

The Yankees are optimistic about completing a deal for Mariano Rivera this week, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (on Twitter). The free agent reliever would likely earn more than Andy Pettitte, who is expected to return on a one-year deal worth $10-11MM. Joel Sherman of the New York Post and Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com also say the Yankees are optimistic about signing their longtime closer this week (Twitter links).

Yay all around, even though I'm guessing the 2013 Yankees will be the oldest team in MLB history. Maybe Cliff Lee was right.

I don't have much hope for Ichiro. I think his late season hot streak was a fluke and he'll continue to be one of the worst hitting outfielders in baseball and I don't like betting on the defense/speed of a guy that old. But for one year on a budget, I'll take him over the alternatives.

Awesome news about Pettitte. Odds that Mo will still end up making more, but whatever, it's just for one mo' year.

Interesting about Ichiro. If the reports are true (and I tend to believe Japanese news sources about Ichiro more than Sherman) then you can't really go too wrong with Ichiro for just $5 million. Napoli sure does seem like a more interesting free agent target now that you have a cheap option in right. Power-hitter, DH/catcher platoon.